Code Caligula
|backcolor= |altbackcolor=#f0f0f0 |height=2 |minwidth=21 |maxwidth=42 |font-size=110% |textcolor=#FFFFFF |alttextcolor=#654488 |tab1=Overview |tab2=Chapter List }} is the first part of ''Canticle. The story begins in 2098, the Demon assassin known as "Bloodstrider" Mura is exiled to and stripped of his powers following a refusal to kill an innocent human girl. Mura must learn to adapt as a human or die, as he is constantly hunted by his former comrades; all the while an ancient evil prepares to reawaken. On November 1st, 2018, the series was published on the comic and novel website Tapas; where it can be currently viewed. It can also be viewed on Wattpad and Royal Road. Plot Summary Beginning of the End : In 2110, a group of cloaked men walk through the ruins of . As the strangers reach the shoreline, the leader of the men's arm is revealed to be almost alien-like in appearance as he looks into the sky to see a gargantuan floating city in the clouds. The man curses the so-called "God of the New World" that lives within the city and promises to kill him. Twelve years in the past, the story begins within the underworld of Yomi. A demon thief and scoundrel named Mura gambles with bandits inside a tavern. He wins and gets attacked by the bandits whom he defeats by outwitting them and stealing their money. Mura delivers it to Belial, leader of the thieves guild Mura belongs to in an attempt to buy his freedom. Belial thanks him but changes his bargain with Mura to deliver 500,000 more sols. Mura feels hopeless and doubts if this is how he wishes to spend his days, as he's been forced into this life after the guild found him as an orphan. Meanwhile, a Shinigami commander named Sierro is being escorted to see the ruler of Yomi, Emperor Orochi. Meanwhile one of Orochi's bodyguards Kirin discusses with the emperor her unease about the meeting. Sierro enters the imperial palace Batō Kōkyo and introduces himself. He explains the origin of Demons and their war with the Shinigami. Sierro explains that the role of demonkind is to live under Shinigami rule. Due to the fact demons have become lax with their efforts in containing demon outbreaks on Earth, Sierro rebukes Orochi before attacking him with his mages. Kirin and Orochi find cover as Sierro uses a powerful Seidō spell to kill most of the emperor's guards. Kirin pleads with Orochi to stay and find shelter but he refuses, emerging to attack the shinigami using a monstrous Jigadō spell to summon a snake kami. Orochi successfully kills the mages but Sierro escapes after sacrificing his arm. After Sierro fires several more magic blasts at Orochi, Kirin emerges from cover to take the brunt of the blows. As she bleeds out and falls unconscious, the wounded Sierro blasts Orochi back and kills him with a shot to the head. The Fifth Emperor : The next morning, all of Yomi is grieving for the death of Orochi. Secretly present at the wake are the Jikininki Ten, Yomi's top organization of assassins. One among them teleports to upper levels of Batō Kōkyo. There, the Council of Princes convenes to discuss who should become the next emperor of Yomi. Naraka, an adviser and retired Jikininki assassin discusses with the Council until Mara, the man with the Jikininki earlier, arrives. Mara gives a speech regarding his feelings towards the Shinigami, which inspires the Council as Naraka silently disapproves. A coronation is underway for the successor of Orochi as emperor. The Council of Princes determined that Mara is to be crowned. Mara is made the fifth emperor of Yomi and subsequently orders Sierro to be brought out. Mara orders his confidant and newly-appointed Minister of Defense Nergal to execute Sierro on the spot. Sierro is decapitated by Nergal's Tamashi Genkai and Mara assures Yomi that the tyranny of the Shinigami will no longer be allowed to exist in his new regime. Meanwhile, Mura is inspired after Orochi's death and decides to enter the Zorastarot Tournament, a competition held annually where the winner is given a cash prize and allowed access to become part of the best assassination guild in Yomi, the Deepcut. He plans on giving half the prize money to his guild as a means of buying his freedom and keeping the rest for himself. Excited at the prospect of fighting for a living, Mura heads out the following day to apply. Mura heads to the Zorastarot Tournament to apply for a contestant application, but is denied on account that he lacks a Thrall to serve as his partner. Mura, determined to find a way decides to ask around for help. Mura later wakes up, beaten unconscious and left in the alley gutters. After finding his surroundings, he finds that he's in the middle of being robbed by a yokai who holds him at knife point. The Zorastarot Tournament : A few hours earlier, Mura walks about on the streets on Yomi after failing to secure a Thrall. He is approached by his fellow thief Grimm, who informs him that Belial sent him to intimidate Mura from entering the Zorastarot Tournament. With Grimm under the possession of two Thralls, Mura tries to escape but is subdued by Soul Flash and promptly knocked unconscious. Waking up later, Mura finds himself being robbed by a young yokai girl. He disables her and strikes a bargain with the yokai, who reveals herself to be named Lilith. He promises Lilith that if she works together with him as his Thrall, they can win the tournament and he'll give her his half of the prize money as payment. Lilith reluctantly agrees, and the two go off to enter the tournament. The Zorastarot Tournament begins off to a bloody start, as contestants are brutally wounded, maimed and killed as the victors ascend the ranks at a shot for glory. Mura and Lilith take in their new surroundings, but are quickly met with hostility by a Thrall named Suzu and her master Behemoth. Mura vows to defeat Behemoth in the arena. Later on, Mura and Lilith are scheduled to fight next. They enter the arena, where they are met by their opponents: Paimon and his Shitidama Thrall Orobas. Attending the tournament are some of the Jikininki Ten; the highest ranked assassins in the Deepcut and celebrated heroes of Yomi. Alongside them is Naraka, who watches the ensuing battles. Mura begins his battle against Paimon and his Thrall Orobas. Only able to perform basic magic and armed with a spear, Mura and Lilith succeed in outsmarting Paimon by having him ram Orobas into the arena's stone walls. Orobas dies from the collision and Paimon is quickly knocked out by a single punch from Mura. Mura and Lilith are crowned the victors of their match as the crowd goes wild. At the same time, Naraka looks on impressed. The Zorastarot Semifinals : Mura and Lilith continue winning battles until they arrive at the finals. Mura and Lilith are feeling confidant and happy. In a moment of trust, Lilith reveals to Mura that she has amnesia and cannot remember her life as a human. Mura reveals that he's competing because he was orphaned and found as a child by a guild of bandits. They raised him to become a pickpocket, brawler and thief for them to earn money for the guild due to his natural talent for it. However, they refuse to let him leave and hold him as a slave indebted to them unless he pays an incredibly large amount of sols to buy his freedom. The duo sit on the sidelines and watch the last round of the semifinals. Behemoth, who also made it this far completely dominates his opponent as the crowd cheers on. Behemoth is a able to undergo a rare power called Primal Release; exposing his monstrous demonic form. Mura watches on disturbed as Behemoth turns his skin into steel and tears his opponent in two. Behemoth and Suzu advance into the finals to face Mura. The Zorastarot Finals : Mura spends the night of the finals trying to come up with a strategy to take down Behemoth. He devises a plan and shares it with Lilith the following morning. They both arrive to participate in the Zorastarot Tournament finals, handing Lilith something before entering the arena space. Behemoth has already been introduced and taunts Mura regarding his motivations for competing in the first place; stating that he simply wants to kill. The battle begins as both combatants fuse with their Thralls. Behemoth immediately uses his Tamashi Genkai Onslaught, turning his skin into steel. Mura dodges his attacks until Behemoth becomes distracted by Dagon Jinn's commentary, hitting him in the face with a Gleam spell. He continues pelting Behemoth's face with Gleams, turning his metallic skin white-hot from the heat. Behemoth scoffs off the ineffective damage, but Mura unfuses from Lilith who is revealed to be wielding a war hammer. Mura had given her the weapon to smuggle into Mura's soul after fusing with him, allowing them to catch Behemoth off guard. Mura takes the hammer and smashes it into Behemoth's head, fracturing his metal surface immensely. Behemoth spits out blood and announces that he plans on switching to his "Plan B". Behemoth transforms into his demon form. Mura throws away the war hammer and rushes Behemoth, clutching onto his leg. While he's distracted, Lilith climbs up Behemoth's body and reveals the other weapon she had hidden to be a dagger. She stabs Behemoth in his left eye, revealing the strategy to be part of Mura's plan all along. However, the attack fails to kill Behemoth as the blade is too small to reach his brain. Lilith attempts to gouge out his other eyes but Behemoth swats her away, knocking her unconscious. Fearing Lilith's death, Mura attempts to protect her and is brutally attacked by Behemoth. Vastly overpowered and nearing death, Mura begins to slip into unconsciousness. Behemoth picks him up and begins crushing him, causing massive internal damage. Resigning himself to die, Mura blacks out. As he does, his body emits a dark aura and releases a massive wave of raw spiritual energy; breaking through the magical barrier and causing most of the audience to black out and vomit. Afterwards, Behemoth falls to the ground; barely clinging to consciousness from the assault. As both Mura and Lilith are unable to continue fighting, Behemoth and Suzu are declared the Zorastarot Tournament champions. Aftermath of the Tournament : Devastated and near death, Mura lies defeated after the championship match against Behemoth. Mura is saved from death by Naraka, who is impressed with his resolve and prowess throughout the tournament. Behemoth is crowned winner and given his prizes, becoming an Odokuro. Mura and Lilith are escorted backstage for medical treatment, where Mura falls into a small coma. He has a nightmare where he encounters a mysterious demon that is surrounded by a sea of corpses. Before Mura can get any answers, the demon drowns Mura in the bodies and blood before he wakes up several days later. Lilith is sitting with Mura in his hospital room, patched up and healing. They get a knock at the door where Naraka visits him personally. He sees Mura as an investment and someone who has too much potential to let die a meaningless death. Naraka agrees to pay off Mura's life debt to Belial in exchange for training to succeed him. While Lilith is skeptical of Naraka's help, Mura agrees and is given the rank of Odokuro via Naraka's sponsorship. Elsewhere in the hospital, Kirin is revealed to be alive and in a coma after the assassination of the late Emperor Orochi. She wakens from her coma as the doctors come in the assess her condition. The Jikininki's Path : Kirin wakes up from her coma and is visited by a team of four Yūrei. They let Kirin know that they have been promoted into the task force called Onryō Squadron. Two months later, Mura returns from a small bounty to collect his reward from the Deepcut banker Mammon. Behemoth, having completed several contracts at once, assaults Mura on the basis that he was made an Odokuro despite losing the Zorastarot Tournament. Mura stands up to Behemoth until Naraka intervenes; threatening to dismember Behemoth should he continue an unprovoked attack. Behemoth leaves the bank as Naraka invites Mura to train; stating they'll be working to unlock Mura's Tamashi Genkai. Naraka has Mura attempt to meditate, focusing his spiritual energy which he calls Tamashiryoku. Naraka plans on using this to help draw out his latent Tamashi Genkai. Mura is unable to activate it, but his focus allows him to see a vision of "black branches". Suspecting Behemoth, Mura and Lilith inspect the deceased bounties Behemoth had been bringing in. All of the corpses are discovered to have blackened veins, key signs of soul-addicted Shitidama. Detecting the powerful scent of brine on the corpses, Mura and Lilith travel to the docks of Gakidō. There they find an abandoned boathouse being used as a base for demon trafficking and soul smuggling. Mura defeats the criminals inside and interrogates their leader named Ziz, who reveals he's been working for Behemoth to manufacture Shitidamas. Thugs working for Behemoth would request bounties be put on Shitidama terrorizing towns, then the Shitidamas would be euthanized as part of an elaborate racketeering scheme. With this confession, Mura leaves the criminals for the police and heads to a promotional banquet being held in Behemoth's honor for entering the Jikininki. Mura interrupts the party by rushing in and punching Behemoth across the banquet table. He exposes Behemoth's treachery to all present and challenges him in a duel to the death for the rank of Tenth in the Jikininki Ten. The Rematch: Mura vs. Behemoth : The First Contract : Hunt for the Witch : Exile : A Night in Dōtonbori : The Reunion : Hunted : Mura takes Tomoe back to Zuiho's home, but Zuiho pleads with Mura to disconnect all ties with the human girl for the sake of her safety and family. Mura refuses, citing Tomoe's grief as her driving force and that she'll continue toward her path with or without their help. Suddenly spotting an odd girl outside Zuiho's home, Mura goes outside to investigate. He discovers the girl to be a disguised Zozo who was tasked by Naraka to deliver an urgent message. Zozo reveals that in addition to his exile, Mura has been labeled the most wanted criminal in Yomi with a bounty on his head of 100,000,000. One day earlier, Naraka heads in secret to Bato Kokyo against the orders of Laz Larsa; planning to see what unfolds during the planned medal ceremony for Mura. Naraka sees Mura on stage in front of the palace, but quickly deduces its Grendel who morphed his appearance into Mura's. Emperor Mara comes out to greet Mura and bestow the medal, only for the fake Mura to stab him through the heart. Mara collapses, causing the crowd present to erupt into a panic. Grendel implicates Mura by delivering a brief speech to a news camera detailing his defection to the side of humanity and challenges those listening to come for him. The disguised Grendel teleports away to the prison of DIS, completing the alibi of the slain soldiers at the World Path machine. To the shock of those still present, Mara stands back up after his mortal wound is mysteriously and perfectly healed. The crowd present bows before Mara, who proclaims himself as immortal along with his new regime. Later that day, Naraka meets with Hurr Nidar to discuss their findings. Nidar states that Mara's failed assassination attempt only further bolstered public approval of the emperor and widespread morale of the people, most of whom now herald Mara as a divine ruler similar to the late emperor Baal. Nidar also explains that the attack increased the anger of Yomi's people toward the human and shinigami races, along with the Kingdom of Nirvana. Lastly, Nidar explains he received a notice from Laz Larsa as well, forcing him to remain silent or face death for treason. Naraka commends Mara on the planned assassination, stating how it served to incriminate Mura even further against the people of Yomi, boost Mara's approval and status and propel his planned war against the Kingdom of Nirvana. Naraka points out a few flaws in Mara's plan, noticeably the fake Mura's ability to use teleportation magic without a Thrall and the absence of Lilith during the ceremony. Naraka also states that Grendel's words, referring to humans as "swine" contradicts the actual reasons behind his exile. Naraka and Nidar, disgusted with the state of their government's corruption form a secret pact while denouncing their allegiance to the Empire of Yomi. They both agree to continue on with their roles within the empire for the timebeing while looking for others throughout Yomi that will stand against the Empire's tyranny. Naraka says he will look for a way to prove Mura's innocence while Nidar will scour the country for like-minded souls such as them. Naraka leaves and heads to the city of Ashurado the following day, set on obtaining Mura's belongings and substream ring. He suspects Grendel, a vain man, would have kept them as trophies after the fact. He travels to the national bank, planning on investigating whether Grendel possess a vault within the bank. He runs into a familiar face, Mammon; who explains she left the Deepcut after successfully stealing the undergarments of every Odokuro present in the barracks during the night. Naraka exploits Mammon's love for him to bring her into his loyal circle. He instructs Mammon to research if Grendel has a vault in the city. She discovers that he does indeed, with several items placed in storage last night. Believing the items to be Mura's belongings, he asks Mammon if she could arrange for him to sneak into the vault and take back Mura's possessions. Mammon dissuades Naraka from doing so, opting to do it herself as she's never been caught and has stolen from vaults before in the past. She also cites Naraka as being more valuable to the world, as if he becomes caught Mura and others like herself will lose their only hope for freedom. Naraka entrusts the task to her, giving her a description of the items he needs her to take that night. Leaving the bank, he sets out to deliver a secret message to Mura; warning of the bounty on his head. Naraka sends a ouijagram to the Zozo located at the outpost on Earth that Mura was assigned to during his duties as a Jikininki. Relaying the message as a matter of life and death, Zozo explains to Naraka that delivering the message to Mura would endanger his business and life. Naraka visits Zozo in person, promising that he'll protect him while laundering his own money into Zozo's organization for the continued efforts. Zozo agrees after Naraka discloses the facts of Mura's framed crimes, sympathizing with the demon. Naraka instructs Zozo to locate Mura, explaining that he's currently hiding out at Zuiho Matsumoto's home. Zozo puts on a disguise, running to find Mura and warn him. Meanwhile, Naraka sees a news bulletin on the television within Zozo's Outpost. The newsflash details that Mura has officially been assigned a bounty of 100,000,000 and that he is only wanted dead. Thousands of demons and other beings throughout Limbo and Yomi gear up to locate Mura and kill him to claim the price on his head. The Jikininki Ten are given the last known drop point of the World Path machine within DIS, placing Mura's location as somewhere in Japan. Kirin, joined by the women of Onryo Squadron are busy tracking the demon Paimon within Japan when they receive the news. Kirin makes the decision to continue tracking Paimon while keeping an eye out for Mura as well, as Kirin deduces that Paimon will try searching for Mura as well for the bounty on his head. Characters & Thralls |Av1 = MuraAv.png |Name1 = Mura |Status1 = Protagonist |Thrall1 = Lilith |ThrallAv1 = LilithAv.png |Color2 = CC2 |Name2 = Naraka |Av2 = NarakaAv.png |Status2 = Ally |Thrall2 = Yatagarasu |ThrallAv2 = YataAv.png |Name3 = Tomoe Nagata |Av3 = TomoeAv.png |Status3 = Ally |Name4 = Zozo |Av4 = NoPicAv.png |Status4 = Neutral |Thrall4 = Oracle Bone |ThrallAv4 = NoPicAv.png |Name5 = Hurr Nidar |Av5 = NoPicAv.png |Status5 = Ally |Name6 = Mammon |Av6 = NoPicAv.png |Status6 = Ally |Name7 = Mara |Av7 = MaraAv.png |Status7 = Main Antagonist |Av8 = BehemothAv.png |Name8 = Behemoth |Status8 = Villain |Thrall8 = Suzu Belloch |ThrallAv8 = SuzuAv.png |Color2 = CC2 |Av9 = KirinAv.png |Name9 = Kirin |Status9 = Villain |Name10 = Lamia |Av10 = NoPicAv.png |Status10 = Villain |Name11 = Wendigo |Av11 = NoPicAv.png |Status11 = Villain |Name12 = Jormungandr |Av12 = NoPicAv.png |Status12 = Villain |Name13 = Llorona |Av13 = NoPicAv.png |Status13 = Villain |Name14 = Kishin |Av14 = KishinAv.png |Thrall14 = Ame-no-Ohabari |ThrallAv14 = AmeNoOhabariAv.png |Status14 = Villain |Name15 = Grendel |Av15 = GrendelAv.png |Status15 = Villain |Name16 = Nergal |Av16 = NergalAv.png |Status16 = Villain |Thrall16 = Laz Larsa |ThrallAv16 = NoPicAv.png |Name17 = Shuten |Av17 = ShutenAV.png |Status17 = Villain |Thrall17 = Furu-Utsubo |ThrallAv17 = NoPicAv.png |Name18 = Kuchisake |Av18 = KuchisakeAv.png |Status18 = Villain |Name19 = Sierro |Av19 = NoPicAv.png |Status19 = Villain |Name20 = Belial |Av20 = NoPicAv.png |Status20 = Villain }} Minor Characters :See also Minor Characters § Part 1: Code Caligula and Unnamed Characters § Part 1: Code Caligula Major Battles *Mura, Lilith & Tomoe Nagata vs. Hakanohi & Baku *Mura & Lilith vs. Alpha Incubus *Kishin vs. Forneus *Mura, Lilith & Tomoe Nagata vs. Kirin & Onryō Squadron }} Gallery ISFLCameo1.png|The cover to Part 1 of Canticle as a movie poster in the webcomic It Stems From Love. Trivia References }} Category:Canticle Parts Category:Light Novel